Jessismore

Counting my blessings...

2011-07-19T18:17:00.003+01:00

So today I am 36 weeks pregnant. (I'm huge aren't I?!) In one week, I'll be considered "term" and if I go into labor, it won't be premature.

I've been extremely fortunate to have an incredibly easy pregnancy... up to now.

At this time in my pregnancy, I can go on for ages about why I want Peanut out: acid reflux, discomfort, especially when I'm trying to sleep, frequent bathroom trips, tiring easily, not being able to take a full breath, stabbing pains. I could go on.

I realized last night that I really need to relish this time before he's here. Not only because the current peace won't last long, but also because carrying a child is one of the rewards of being a woman.

So I'm writing this to compile a list of reasons why I am glad to still be pregnant so hopefully I can look back on it and appreciate these last few weeks rather than consider them a "difficult time."

Reasons why I'm glad I'm still pregnant:

After tomorrow I'm on maternity leave and I'll be able to enjoy it alone, doing the things that I want to do rather than answering to Peanut's every need.
Even though getting kicked in the ribs doesn't feel nice, every movement he makes is magical.
I still haven't registered that I'm going to be a parent soon and I don't think I'll have to go through that anxiety until he's here.
Even in England (where the majority of people are very grumpy towards strangers), people smile at me as I'm walking by.
I still get time with just Steve and myself to cuddle on the couch and watch movies or TV (except when the dog butts in)
I may not be sleeping well, but at least I'm sleeping!
Strangers are incredibly polite, letting me cross roads, holding doors open for me, asking if I need help, etc.
The pain of labor is still a distant thought.
I don't have to listen to a baby crying all the time, but I still feel like he's here and we're connected.
Right now, I'm an endearing pregnant woman. Soon, I'll be a woman with a pram in the way (even though right now I feel like I'm the size of a pram!).
I don't have to deal with people coming over to visit Peanut and me at inopportune times.
I can still walk my dog alone without worrying about a baby.
I'll get a great head start on Christmas gifts while I'm waiting for him to come.
I'll get to spend time alone with my mom when she visits before Peanut arrives.
I get all the attention and know full well that Peanut will get all the attention when he's here.
I don't have to feel guilty for eating an extra cookie (or few) yet.
It's perfectly acceptable for me to spend an entire day in my PJs.
Steve has to do the weeding because I can't bend down.

Well, that's my list for now. I'm sure I'll add to it as and when. I really am fortunate to be in the position I'm in and I'm going to try every day to remember to appreciate the present rather than pining for the future.

The State of Mental Health in the UK

2011-06-27T20:06:00.000+01:00

Hey all, I know it's been a long time since I've posted. So you know, everything is going really well and I'm starting maternity leave in just a few weeks!

What I really wanted to discuss is my frustration with the way mental health is dealt with in the UK.

Two years ago, my husband had a bad breakdown which led to him being put on both an antidepressant (citalopram) and a very strong anxiety medication (stelazine) which is actually classed as an antipsychotic. These were prescribed by our GP who has no special training in mental health treatment. This was also after a different doctor at our GP told him to take a bubble bath and "think happy thoughts" rather than actually treat what was going on.

Since then, despite numerous complaints about his medication not working or bad side effects, my husband's medication "treatment" hasn't been reviewed. Not only is he on extremely strong drugs which he was put on right after a severe episode, the doctors haven't even bothered to check in on him to make sure that the medication is actually working for him.

The majority of people I've spoken to in the UK who have been or are currently on antidepressants are on citalopram (Celexa in the US). What the healthcare providers in the UK don't seem to know, realize or accept is that everyone is different and it's not a matter of giving everyone the same drug and leaving it at that. Sometimes it take a year or more to find the right medication or combination of medications for a person. The NHS doesn't seem to care though and treats everyone like they're the same person.

Medication itself is not even a complete treatment. If someone is prescribed medication, then probably 95% of the time, they should have some sort of mental therapy. Even if it's seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist once ever few months. Throwing pills at a problem is not the answer.

Knowing this, we have done everything in our power to get better treatment for my husband, but the doctors don't want to hear it. They refuse to refer him to a specialist and when one time he came close to it, we were told he could not be accepted because he wasn't suicidal. Is that what it takes to be taken seriously? So people have to prove they're depressed and need help by trying to kill themselves?

This whole time, it's been a struggle for my husband and I firmly believe that he'd be exactly the same if he were off the medication. In fact, he wouldn't have to deal with the annoying side effects so he might even feel better than he does now.

Even after my husband had a severe panic attack last week, he went to the GP for an emergency appointment and was seen by the "bubble bath" doctor who only increased his medicine. He didn't bother trying him on something new which might actually work. He didn't ask how everything has been going and see if maybe they should try something else.

Having a mental health disorder myself (bipolar disorder) and coming from a country where I was able to get bespoke and informed treatment, it's incredibly frustrating for me to see the way that the NHS, which UK residents pay for, treats mental health, particularly when someone I love is involved.

The worst thing is that there seems to be nothing I can do about it. The doctors won't listen no matter how firm I am, the NHS site only says this about treatment: People with mental health problems need help and support to enable them to cope with their illness. There are many treatments, including medication, counselling, psychotherapy and self help. It is important that people with mental illnesses are told about the options available so they can decide which treatment suits them best.

I'm guessing that doctors don't read the NHS site very often.

If anyone knows who I can write to about this, please let me know. I don't think I'll be able to do anything alone but I'd love to make my voice heard. And I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Yipee!

2011-05-15T08:31:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, after 3 and a half months of anxiously waiting, I received my ILR settlement permit. ILR means 'indefinite leave to remain' which basically meant, I'm a permanent resident of the UK.

While I'm so pleased that I finally got it (having it means I'm eligible for certain benefits which I wasn't before), I can't help but wish I didn't need it. That Steve and I were "home" in California. Close to my family, our friends and everything that we love.

There are some fantastic things about living in the UK - the fish and chips, the history and low cost of living (compare for California) to name a few - but even after nearly three years here, I don't feel any more at home than I did when I first moved over. I just feel like I know it better.

I have a few friends I've made since moving here and some work colleagues which mean more to me than just colleagues, but I don't spend much time with them. And because of Steve's schedule, I spend most of my spare time alone. Good thing we have a dog.

If I were back home, even living an hour and a half from my parents, I'd see them all the time. I have good friends all over the state so I'd always know someone wherever I moved to rather than being somewhere completely alone. I'd also have a car so I can actually go places without being stuck on the bus or train timetable.

Oh well, the time will come someday when I can live at home again. Until then, I'll just keep complaining =]

Nappies, nursery and normal...

2011-05-08T15:08:00.000+01:00

So I've had a bad cold for the last 3 days. I feel like garbage. It's so not fair. Why can't they come up with something which pregnant women can take for a cold while they're pregnant? It's seriously annoying. There must be something. What a way to spend a weekend.

We've decided on a name for the baby. No, you don't get to find out yet, you'll have to wait a few months, but I will say I am completely in love with it. I can't wait to have a baby with that name.

I've been snapping up cloth nappies which I've found for sale at really cheap prices online. I'm only buying the first size just in case they're not for us. I really hope they are though because they're so damn cute. And they're cheaper than disposables. I got 20 nappies and 4 wraps for just over £60. They'll last us until Peanut is about 4-5 months. I think by then we'll know how we like them.

So the nursery is coming along nicely. All I need are some baskets, a cotbed mattress, bedding and the cute space invader wall decals I found on ebay and it'll be complete. Well, except for the baby.

I've still got 3 months left before he completes the ensemble. This part has been going really slowly, but at the same time zooming past. It's a bit odd, knowing I'm going to be a mother in just a few weeks. I know I should savor the freedom now, but I'm not. At least I don't feel like I am. Maybe savoring my finite freedom is just doing what I normally do.

I don't feel any different. Shouldn't I? I should feel like a glowing, bumpy mother-to-be. But I just feel like me. Maybe being a mother will feel that way. Normal.

Pondering and Planning...

2011-03-24T19:55:00.000Z

Oh my gosh!! Two posts in one week?! What is going on here??

Well, I happen to be off work for a week (don't get worried. I took it off). And there's a lot going on.

Today we found out that we're having a boy. I couldn't be more excited. I know I wouldn't have been disappointed if he were a girl, but I sort of knew he was a boy and it would have been strange to have him turn out not to be. And he's got all the right parts and organs and they're all the right size and everything. Now I can start shopping for him.

But that's not what this post is about, as fantastic news as it is. The real topic is much more unexpected.

After much deliberation, I have decided to sell my computer.

I've had my own computer for at least 10 years and now I'm giving it up. I know it sounds crazy, but there are several sane reasons for my decision though:

1) I don't use my computer all that much anymore except to browse the web, check email, chat with friends online. All of these things I can do with my phone or my 10 year old iBook laptop which has never had anything go wrong with it.
2) Steve is still keeping his computer so if I absolutely need one which does more than my old little lappy, I can use his.
3) It's much easier to fit 1 desk with 1 computer in the living room rather than 2 desks and 2 computers. English houses aren't that big you know. So now our second bedroom will be the nursery!
4) I'm going to use the money to buy Steve and I an iPad2!!

So you see, it's not a crazy decision. It's very well thought out and made for the right reasons. I do love my gorgeous iMac, but I'd rather have an iPad2 and a nursery for the baby.

I'd better do this quickly though. Sounds like the iPad2 stocks are going to be a bit low in the near future.

Goings On...

2011-03-21T14:26:00.000Z

Lately, I've been going nuts with craft/homemade ideas for the house. I made a throw pillow case by patching together matching fabrics at jaunty angles. (You can sort of see it in the photo. It was a bit dark and I took it with my iPhone.) I made a bunch of paper flowers out of Laura Ashley card stock and put them into a cream teapot which we never use (the dog ate the flowers after a few days though). And I've come up with umpteen different things I want to do around the house from making a slipcover for our corner sofa to whitewashing our bedroom furniture to making storage baskets.

I told you I've gone crazy. Is this what nesting feels like?

Basically, when we moved into this house, I didn't care much about the decor. I mean I did a little bit but I didn't anticipate staying in the UK long enough to justify spending the money on anything. Now I'm a bit worried that I'm not going to want to part with it, but I figure if I have a baby coming, I'd like to have a real home ready for them rather than have the house look like we've just moved in.

I've taken the week off work just because. I'm not completely separated from work because I'm still doing a little bit of it from home, but that's how I like it. I'd rather not be separated. Luckily this week, I'm able to do lots of research and start planning all my projects. I may even start a couple. I also plan to spend some time at local charity shops to see if I can find some cheap furniture to play with.

So here is a list of my planned projects, the ones I can think of at the moment:

-Whitewash bedroom furniture (not real whitewash; it'll be an emulsion/water mixture)

-Sand dining room table and chairs so I can whitewash them as well

-Make slip cover for couch (this is going to be a big one! I'm still not sure if I can handle it)

-Make curtains and bedding for nursery

-Make raised planter for flowers

-Cover bedroom wall hangings with new fabric matching new bedding

-Find a sideboard and a bookcase at charity shop to tidy up for living room and dining room.

-Cover cork board in jute fabric to hang in kitchen

-Make tacks with vintage buttons and glass pebbles

-Make fabric baskets for shelving and nursery storage

I think there are more, smaller projects but I just can't think of them at the moment.

In baby news, we have our 20 week scan on Thursday and I've decided I want to know the sex. Steve is happy because he's always wanted to know. So I'll post an update when we find out.

I've also been feeling really really good lately. Some days I don't even feel pregnant, until I look down and see my bump or have to pee every 10 minutes. I'm only 19 weeks though so we'll see how I feel a month or two from now. I'd better get all my projects done before then or it'll never happen!

Inspiration...

2011-03-06T21:29:00.000Z

So I found a blog yesterday on which I spent hours looking through every single post. It was completely worth it.

Homework has a massive amount of beautiful, creative, easy and inexpensive home projects. I have fallen in love with every single thing created on this blog. I've already purchased several fat quarters of new and vintage fabric, a pack of Laura Ashley vintage design cardstock, a giant pack of vintage buttons, jute fabric and a glue gun!

That was all yesterday and today I'd planned to get moving on several projects which had been inspired by homework. Unfortunately, our start was a bit late today and by the time we got back home with soil and a seed propagator for some flowers and bulbs we planted in the garden, I only had time to make a dozen paper flowers, glue them to sticks and arrange them in a lovely cream Nigella Lawson teapot which Steve and I got for our wedding but have only used once. I've still got 4 more to make and glue onto another stick so no photos yet, but I'll hopefully finish it tomorrow.

On Saturday I'm going to a discount home store in town to pick up some throw pillow forms so I can get started on making the pillows I've got in mind. I still have yet to buy a few other things which I have in mind. I think I'll wait until I finish the stuff I'm working on at the moment. As Steve pointed out, I tend to get very excited about something and drop it partway through with a bunch of unfinished projects. I'm just hoping I'm nesting so I don't give it all up!

That said, I'm so excited about my projects. All of the decorating in the house is neutral and boring. I can wait to inject some color into everything!

I highly recommend taking a look at this blog, especially if you love doing crafty stuff or just want some inspiration.

Baby, come back...

2011-02-21T07:08:00.000Z

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I've just been completely knackered after work and not wanting to do a thing on the weekends. I feel like a bum. Except for the prenatal workout DVD I got (which is amazing), I just kind of hang out in the evenings.

So just a quick one, I have "discovered" ebay. I've purchased a few things on there before, but they were always "buy it now." I never wanted to bid in the auctions. I think I was a bit nervous about it. Anyway, I needed maternity clothes and thought I'd look on ebay. I don't need brand new ones as long as they fit and are in good shape and they cost a fortune over here. !!!!!!! There are loads of really cute bundles of maternity clothes separated by size. I went crazy bidding and then realized that I don't want to win everything. Luckily, I ended up with 1 bundle and 1 pair of jeans, both for 99p (plus shipping of course).

Such a steal. I can't wait to get my new clothes!!

Meet Peanut...

2011-02-04T16:49:00.000Z

Hey all. I know it's been ages since I've posted (again) but I was too afraid to post in case my secret slipped out. Believe me, it's all I've been thinking about for the last 8 and a half weeks!

Anyway, my secret? Oh you know, I'm just going to have a baby. Nothing big or anything...

Steve and I went for the first scan today and were completely amazed at this little thing the size of a plum bouncing around in my belly! Especially when I can't even feel it. The whole thing is surreal.

Here's what he looks like.

He looks like he's sucking his thumb! =]

I keep saying "he" because I just have that feeling. Plus I'm kind of hoping it is a boy. We have a stellar boy name picked out, which I won't be sharing until peanut is born and we know for sure.

Anyway, I just wanted to let the cat out of the bag. It's been incredibly difficult not saying a word before this!!

White Christmas...

2010-12-05T09:45:00.000Z

So a friend and I decided to get together and bake a bunch of goodies to put into Christmas baskets for gifts. Our first day of baking was yesterday and we made LOADS of yummy treats! Fudge, toffee, chocolate orange loaf cake, shortbread cookie dough, but my favorite thing that we made yesterday was white chocolate cake balls...

Look at how stunning these are!! My friend found silver edible glitter and we sprinkled it on top and they look so Christmassy! I am so excited to give away these baskets and see people's faces when they see these gorgeous little treats. We also taste-tested them, you know, to make sure they're not poisonous or anything...
oh.
my.
GOD!! They are yummy!! Of course you risk having glitter on your face or stuck in your teeth but it's a small risk considering how good these things are.

The next time we get together we've got a whole other slew of things to make. Plus, we've got to put the baskets together! I'll be taking more pictures then and hopefully you'll be able to see them all put together.

For now though, you can just stare at these lovely little goodies and drool.

I've read 24 of these books...

2010-11-30T07:12:00.000Z

Have you read more than 6 of these books? The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here. Instructions: Copy this into your NOTES. Bold those books you've read in their entirety, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish or read an excerpt.

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Bible
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
1984 - George Orwell
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Complete Works of Shakespeare
Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
Middlemarch - George Eliot
Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
Emma -Jane Austen
Persuasion - Jane Austen
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
Animal Farm - George Orwell
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
100 Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Dune - Frank Herbert
Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
Dracula - Bram Stoker
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
Ulysses - James Joyce
The Inferno - Dante
Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
Germinal - Emile Zola
Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
Possession - AS Byatt
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
Watership Down - Richard Adams
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

How many have you read? You're supposed to post this to FB and tag people in it so they can do it too.

The Holidays...

2010-11-28T14:22:00.000Z

So it's that time of year again. The Holiday Season. Beloved and dreaded by people around the world.

I myself have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. I used to just love it, but then I moved to England.

Part of me hates this time of year. I miss my friends and family back home with all my heart. This year I even have a new niece over there whom I won't get to see have her first Christmas (though I also have a new one here so I'll at least get to see hers!). I miss a proper Thanksgiving celebration. I hate how cold it is here. Every year it just gets worse! It's already snowed and it isn't even December yet! I miss going to the beach on New Years. I miss longer hours of daylight. I even miss Black Friday shopping!

I still love this time of year because of the warm, fuzzy feeling it gives you. I love shopping for the perfect gift for people and holiday baking. I love that I've been able to introduce Thanksgiving traditions to lots of people (like pumpkin pie!). I like the cold sometimes because it actually feels like Winter and it makes curling up on the couch with Steve under a fuzzy blanket with a mug of hot chocolate all the more appealing. I love that I've been introduced to new holiday traditions and food like Christmas crackers and mince pies. I love Christmas with my in-laws.

This year is a bit more stressful than usual because Steve and I are saving up for my visa which I've got to apply for before Feb 8th. It's HARD to save up when you have Christmas gifts to buy, especially when you have to save up £840. And that doesn't include the cost of taking the Life in the UK test, shipping the application, visa photos, etc. Blah.

I'm trying to stay positive. Not letting the REALLY cold weather get to me. All that goodness. Friday night I celebrated Thanksgiving with a Dips, Dessert and Drinks night with a bunch of good friends. The food was fan-freaking-tastic too! I know it's not a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but I did have a form of pumpkin pie, which I made from an actual pumpkin and not a can, thankyouverymuch! It did actually feel like a Thanksgiving gathering and it even snowed!

Anyway, I hope all of you back home had a great Thanksgiving! Next stop: Christmas!!

A revelation about myself...

2010-11-01T08:47:00.000Z

So for anyone who happens to stumble across this blog that doesn't know me very well or at all, I'll fill you in on one thing: I'm quite a passionate person. Not like outwardly passionate about everything where the people in my life are irritated with me or think I'm a freak or anything.

It's just that, when I get excited about something, I'm EXCITED about it. I'm so excited that my life is consumed by this one thing and I have to invest every bit of me that I can into it so that I'm eating, sleeping, breathing, living whatever it is that I'm so EXCITED about.

This is my brand of passion.

The only problem with this kind of passion is that it's a bright fire that burns hot but not for a very long time. Since I quit dancing in my early teens, I've picked up countless hobbies, each time becoming ridiculously EXCITED about it and making sure that I have all the tools available for a lifetime of this hobby and then after a while, it all fizzles out and I move onto the next one.

Sure, some hobbies have lasted longer than others. When I was younger, before I was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and a bit out of control, I wrote a lot. Poetry, short stories. They were pretty good too. I was even published somewhere; I can't remember where. But even know I'm struggling to motivate myself to finish the screenplay which I've been working on for months.

I've also managed to keep up my knitting and crocheting, both of which I taught myself 9 years ago (!!), but I dare you to count the unfinished knitting/crochet projects lying around in boxes in my garage or tucked away in closets in my house.

My hobbies aren't the only things that fall to this fate. I come up with some really great ideas as well which I get so pumped up about and then lose the motivation and the passion which I originally have for them, for no reason. A few months ago, my mom encouraged me to start an internet business and I came up with a really great idea for one which involved Steve and a developer which he does a lot of work with and myself and we were all so excited about it and planned it all out and even developed the website like 3 days after I told them the idea, but it never got put up, because I lost passion so the guys did too. It was my idea and I should have kept their motivation up.

Friday night, I came up with a new idea. I won't say what it is, however I will say that I am trying a new approach with this. What if I don't get overly passionate about it? What if I don't go all out nuts and stay calm and methodical and rational and go slow? Maybe I won't lose it? This particular idea isn't a business idea. It's not something which will make me a lot of money. I want to help other people and I am REALLY hoping that I don't fizzle out on this one because it could be amazing =]

Well played, Gap...

2010-10-13T07:14:00.000+01:00

So after less than a week, Gap has changed their logo back to the original, tried-and-true, blue background white-lettered one. They claim it was customer backlash which caused them to revert, but working next to the PR team of a global company has taught me more than a few things.

What better way to bring the focus back to your company when your sales are down than to create a bunch of hoopla by changing your lovely, timeless logo to a cruddy 25 cent one, inciting feelings of anger and betrayal among your clientele, only to change it back once they've voiced their feelings of dissent, thus replacing those negative feelings which your customers are holding with ones of devotion and gratitude for your eager attentiveness to their wants and needs?

It's brilliant!

The Wall Street Journal said Gap is denying that this is a publicity stunt. Of course they are! What company comes clean on this type of PR stunt? What are they going to say? "Well, sales were down and we really wanted people to remember us again. We wanted our customers to feel good about our brand so we made them feel bad so we could make them feel good."

No. That doesn't happen.

Anyway, Gap, I tip my hat to you. Well played, sir.

What are they thinking?!

2010-10-10T10:34:00.000+01:00

Oh my gosh you guys. This is the second post in 2 days. I'm going nuts on the blogging. I promise it won't happen again.

I just had to share this. Well that's not the real reason why I'm here but it's funny regardless. I've been a fan of the Old Spice Guy from the start and was laughing like crazy when I saw that video.

No, the real reason why I'm here is because Gap have changed their logo!! Why? For no reason at all. Well, supposedly their sales were falling, but what is a new logo going to change? If anyone has shopped at Gap 10 years ago compared to now, they'll see that their clothes have changed quite a bit. I can rarely find anything that I like there anymore. The only reason I go there now is because I can't find jeans I like in the UK. I almost never find anything else there that I deem fashionable. It's all boring. Blah. Not worthy of my wardrobe.

Anyway, the big hooplah. Here is the new logo:

Can you see why this is a big deal? It's awful! It's been torn apart by everyone. Called MS clipart, cheap, generic. Personally, I agree with a commenter on one of the articles I read who said that it looks like they made it in Easy Logo Creator. It looks like it belongs on a cheap business card. It's ridiculous.

I visited the Gap website and it just doesn't have the same feel with the new logo. It doesn't fit with the rest of the other logos. Oddly enough, they haven't expanded the change to the UK website, but I imagine it's coming soon.

Here's a comparison of the old and the new logos. What do you think of the new logo?

Chocolate Truffles and Dogs...

2010-10-09T08:49:00.000+01:00

So this morning I was going to make chocolate truffles. A friend and I are going to get together and bake a bunch of goodies for Christmas gift baskets and I found a recipe for chocolate truffles and I wanted to try it out and see if they're any good. It's more of an excuse to have truffles really, though if they're good, I'll freeze most of them and use them for the baskets. High quality dark chocolate isn't cheap you know.

Anyway, I got all my ingredients out and couldn't find the butter. The supermarket we order our groceries from hadn't delivered it. It was right there on the receipt! Unsalted butter! But it wasn't in my fridge. Dangit. At least they didn't charge me for the stainless steel mixing bowl I ordered from them in the same order. We don't have a car so we have to do our big grocery shops by delivery. It's annoying, but what are you gonna do?

So rather than make truffles this morning (I'll do it later after I walk to the super market. I also need to pick up coffee because I accidentally ordered beans rather than ground coffee.), I'm going to write a little bit about my dog. Well, not necessarily my dog, but dogs in general.

Steve and I love our dog. Who couldn't love that face? She's amazing. Super smart, very loving (especially of shoes and expensive headphones), incredibly loyal and she loves us just as much as we love her, in fact maybe more.

Almost a year ago BBC's Horizon (they do really great documentaries for all of you Stateside folk) did a documentary called The Secret Life of the Dog. I found it sooooo very interesting and really enjoyed watching it. I wish I could watch it again because I don't really remember all that much about it. What I do remember was something about people and dogs and oxytocin levels. So I decided to look it up.

What I found was decidedly awesome.

First let me define oxytocin for anyone who is unfamiliar or needs a refresher. It's a neurotransmitter in your brain, often known as the "love hormone" or the "cuddle hormone." It's most often associated with lactating mothers because it's released during breastfeeding to bond a mother to her baby. It also can play a role in pair-bonding and social recognition. Lastly, it's used to induce labor, though I'm not exactly sure what kind of role it plays here. I think something having to do with contractions.

So, a lot of studies have been done between dogs and humans measuring their levels of oxytocin before, during and after play, petting and eye contact. The first one I came across, just measured the human's oxytocin levels, and found that they rose by more than 20% on average when playing with their own dog. So playing/making eye contact with our dogs bonds us to them even more. These researchers believe that this bond formed/made stronger through eye contact may contribute to the domestication of dogs.

The next study I came across measured the oxytocin level in both dogs and humans as well as the cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone which is released when we're stressed out. Not only do oxytocin levels rise in humans when we pet our dogs but they also rise in our dogs as well. And our cortisol levels drop. So now our dogs are bonding to us just because we're petting them. Not psychologically but physiologically. AND we're getting less stressed out.

I came across another article which is a good general summary of a lot of the big studies done between dogs and humans on oxytocin levels. It's a good read.

All of this is very interesting, but what does it mean? Well, it provides an explanation for those of us who are ridiculously attached to our dogs. Or those people who call their dogs their "babies." It also tells us why dogs make such great therapy animals. Lastly, it gives us a glimpse as to how dogs may have first become domesticated. And it's all just kind of neat.

An announcement...

2010-08-22T18:04:00.000+01:00

I know I said I was going to update everyone on my parents' visit, but I haven't had any photos to show anyone because my mother hasn't sent me any. Sorry about all that. But I do have other news...

Yesterday afternoon my sister gave birth to a little girl. Some of you know, there's a bit of drama associated with my sister, her pregnancy, the baby's father, my relationship with my sister, etc, but for now I'm forgetting about all of that because it's always exciting when there's a new addition to the family.

I haven't gotten to see a photo of her yet because she's still in the nursery. There was some trouble during the labor and she came out blue with some respiration problems, but last I heard, she's much rosier though still has a massive cone-head. Apparently she has a full head of thick blond hair which is a bit unique and she's got blue eyes which will stay since both parents have them.

Her name is Wintersong Jane (maybe Winter Song). Not my sister's choice, and it's left everyone scratching their heads a bit since she wasn't born (or conceived, ew) in Winter, but her father seems to think that he's mostly Native American (he's not) and has always wanted a daughter with that name. Whatever, I'm going to call her Winnie and I think that's really cute.

Throughout the whole labor (except for the first 10 hours when I didn't even know it was happening. Oh, and I found out from Facebook.) I had the phone, text and email to keep in touch with my parents and sister about what was going on. It made me think about how amazing and useful technology is. If this were 50-60 years ago, I wouldn't have known until I got a letter in the post about it, much less get updates every hour or so or even more frequently once the baby started coming.

Steve and I watched the movie Book of Eli last night and we really enjoyed it. If you haven't seen it, it takes place is a post-apocalyptic era where far fewer people live on Earth, with no infrastructure, no government and no ozone layer to protect Earth's inhabitants and allow plant life to grow. One of the lines in the movie when the main character is comparing the "old world" to the current one was "People kill each other now for things we used to throw away." Of course we can't throw away technology per say, but we definitely take it for granted, along with pretty much everything else we have.

I'm baaack...

2010-08-14T23:52:00.000+01:00

So my parents have been gone for 5 days now and I miss them more now than I did before I saw them. How silly is that?!

Their visit was absolutely wonderful and we all had such an amazing time wandering around Somerset and then London. My parents enjoyed this visit so much more than the last one, particularly because they actually had the time to enjoy it. (For those of you who don't know, my parents have been here once before, for my and Steve's wedding, but they were only in the country for like 36 hours. I think their travel time was probably about the same amount of time.)

I'll be posting blogs about our little day trips and our visit to London over the next week or so. Unfortunately I don't have many photos so I'm going to have to get some from my mom. I brought my camera with me everywhere thinking I'd use it, but I completely forgot about it. Probably because I'd been to nearly all of the places we went to. I'd finally remember it, take a couple of random pictures and forget about it again for a couple of days. So I think I have 34 pictures total and 14 of them are experiments with the macro setting on my camera on flowers around Dunster Castle, 7 of them are self-portraits of Steve and I, 5 of them are the same shot of the inside of Mart St. Redcliffe church when I was trying to get the exposure right and 3 of them are of Ripley. That leaves 5 of actual "stuff."

I'll give a quick synopsis of our first few days here though and leave you with a couple of the photos which are on my camera from those days...

So the first day (Wednesday) I got off work early and my parents were already at my house with lots and lots of goodies from back home which they'd brought for us. For dinner we walked down to the local chip shop and showed them what real fish and chips are like. Of course they loved them. If you don't live over here, you'd better come visit and see what I'm talking about, because this stuff is excellent.

Thursday Steve and I showed them around beautiful Weston super Mare (HA!) and we introduced my parents to Thorntons. They also got to meet Jen and Adam, two of our very good friends, (Adam in an incredibly talented artist who has produced every piece of art in our house except one and painted the photo of me on my profile) who were in town and we had coffee at a very cute new place which I didn't even know about.

Friday, we went to Bristol Airport (exciting right??). The only reason we went there was to go to the car rental place and get my name on the car so that I could drive because let me tell you, being in the car when my dad was driving was TERRIFYING! My dad is an excellent driver... in the US. But here? Well, there's a lot to think about when you're not used to it.

So Saturday we had a BBQ. Steve's immediate family was there. Jen and Adam were there and a few other good friends came. Our niece is finally getting along with Ripley and when I say "getting along" I mean "attached at the hip." Maya was petrified of Ripley for the first 6 months we owned her. Now they're inseparable. It's really very sweet to watch them, and Rips is soooo patient with Maya. She's very very good with her considering she's a 10 month old puppy.

Sunday we met up with Steve's folks for a drive and wander around the Quantock Hills. If you've never heard of them, The Quantocks are known for their beautiful, patchwork colors and stunning views. They're actually officially designated an "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" which means something important or something. Anyway, it's this walk which I actually remembered that I had a camera. But did I take pictures of the beautiful landscape?? Of course not!! My parents would take enough for everyone. So I took a self-portrait of Steve and I and a picture of Ripley, because that's what I care about =]

More to come later. Sorry this one was so long. From now on I'll do one day at a time instead of a bunch a once so they'll be shorter.

So close...

2010-07-22T20:15:00.000+01:00

Today is Thursday. In 5 days, 20 hours, 31 minutes and 52 seconds (47 seconds, 42 seconds, 37, 35, 32, 31, 27 seconds. Well, you get the drift) my parents will be arriving at my house. Yes people, my parents from Sunny California will be arriving at my place in Dreary England. I get to see my folks for 11 whole days! I'll get to show them around the area I live in and take them to London for a few days too! I am sooooooooo excited.

Just slightly less wonderful than seeing my parents again for the first time since December, is the fact that I've got 8 days off work for the duration of their stay. Finally, I am actually taking time off and I have never EVER needed it more than I do now.

Anyway, back to my parents' visit. I've got a bunch of stuff planned, though I'm still in need of a bit of help. I'll detail a bit below. Here's what I've got:

Bath: I want to take my parents to Bath because it's, well, it's stunning. The only thing is that there's loads of shopping there and we're not going to want to shop really. We want to see the touristy stuff. If anyone reading this knows any neat stuff to see in or around Bath, please let me know. I know the city centre is really beautiful and you can pop into the Roman Baths for a peek, but that won't take a whole day and I need to fill it all up.

Dunster Castle and Lynmouth: I've got this one covered. I love Dunster Village and the castle grounds. There's a great little tea house by the old mill (which is still working!) with a cottage garden where you can have cream teas and a babbling brook runs right by it. And Lynmouth is a short drive down the coast and a beautiful little seaside village practically cut into the cliffs. Then we'll be driving back through the Moors which have some really nice views and an occasional sheep running across the road.

Cheddar and Wells: Another easy one. Cheddar Gorge and the Cheese Factory for some fan-freaking-tastic cheese. Quaint little shops and pretty views in Cheddar. Drive up to Wells through the Gorge and see the Cathedral there and see some more quaint shops and some really old, historical buildings.

Stonehenge: I'm not sure when we're popping this one in, but we've got a couple of extra days so we'll definitely have time to drive down there. If anyone knows any cool places to stop between Weston super Mare and Stonehenge that are not Cheddar, Wells or Bath (since we're already stopping there) let me know.

Bristol: Next weekend is the Harbour Festival so I think we'll be going to that. I also want to go up on the Clifton Suspension Bridge and take them for a drink at one of the restaurants up in Clifton that have a view of the whole city. We might do 2 days in Bristol since the Harbour Festival is on the same day as the BBQ.

One of the days we're having a big family BBQ in the afternoon at Steve's parents' house. Maybe we'll go to Stonehenge that morning. We're also spending a day (a Sunday since nothing is open) wandering around some trails on the Quantock Hills since they're so pretty and I know my parents will appreciate a relaxing day before a week and a half of chaos.

Friday Aug 6 - Monday Aug 9 we'll be in London and there's too much to do there so we're all set with that (though if you know of anything cool going on there that weekend, please let me know!).

Anyway, if you've got any suggestions or know of anything going on in the area between July 28 - Aug 5, please let me know. I'm always open to new suggestions!

Mirrors...

2010-06-21T21:12:00.005+01:00

So it's June now (I know, I know. It's been too long) and the weather has finally turned warm. It's been lovely!! I just hope it stays like this for the whole time that my parents are here. *touch wood*

Though I am absolutely loving the Summer, some events have occurred in the last several weeks which have made me reflect on the last year. A lot of you know that a year ago I was working at my previous employer without being paid, being told that 'any day now' I'd get the money, as well as the rest of my colleagues. Well, it turns out we were all lied to. A year later, we've all given up hope of ever seeing our two month's wages, plus the damages awarded by the Employment courts. We know a lot more about those who employed us, things we didn't want to know, things we wished we'd have known a year ago. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.

That was the beginning. I think I can safely say that the last year has been the worst year of my life. Just when I think things can't get worse, they do. Event after event has attacked me since last Summer and it's been one horrible ride. I won't get into the gory details on here. Those that are close to me know them. If you don't know everything, sorry. You'll just have to suffer.

If I believed in Karma, I'd be playing the lottery every week right now because I'm due for a win. Trust me.

I'm not posting this to whine and cry and complain so that everyone pities me though. Don't pity me - Seriously, stop it - Believe me, I have had some great times in the last year. I've made some great friends; people I'm sure I'll be in contact with long after I move back to California (whenever that is). My relationship with Steve is stronger than it could have ever been had this year never have happened, and I'm still falling more in love with him every day. Basically, I'm happy, regardless of everything that has happened.

And why is that?

Because despite the horrible people out there who don't pay when they say they will and the heartbreaking things that happen which are out of my control, the one thing I can control is myself. And that self is going to be fine no matter what dammit!

Some People Disgust Me...

2010-05-08T17:29:00.000+01:00

So I came across this article just now. You can read it now or later or never, but basically, it details a woman with a 3 year old boy who met a guy online and let him move in with her 2 months later. The two months following BF moving in, he proceeded to abuse the boy by dunking him under water, shoving him in the freezer, burning him on the heater, with scalding water, smothering him with pillows and even more. When the woman was asked why she allowed the abuse to continue she responded, "I guess I was in love with him. I didn't want to lose him." "Him" being the boyfriend. Disgusting.

Reading her quote made me think of someone I know. A pregnant woman, in a terrible relationship with not a great person at all, a guy who's proved that he doesn't value life and who is an alcoholic with absolutely no experience with babies and small children. Despite the fact that she knows this is a bad relationship and he doesn't treat her all that well either, she does everything she can to stay with him, including being nearly estranged from the nearly all of her friends and family, for the exact reason that the woman above allowed her boyfriend to abuse her son.

What is going to happen if this other guy gets fed up with his infant baby screaming at night? Or if the baby throws up on him or does something else to make him angry? What if he's drunk? What if he goes to far? Will this woman let is happen because she "doesn't want to lose him"? Scary stuff.

What did you do with your Sunday morning?

2010-05-02T17:04:00.000+01:00

I spent mine making a new dog bed for Ripley. Oh yeah. Rock out.

When I was visiting California over Christmas, the woman who rents a room from my parents was making no-sew baby blankets for some of her friends for gifts. Though I'm more a fan of the nice clean lines of a sewn baby blanket, I do understand why these are good for babies and toddlers as a lot of them like to play with tags and this thing basically has tag-like thingies hanging all around it. It's also a really good, inexpensive gift to make for people who are having a baby, particularly if you don't know how to sew or don't own a sewing machine as all you need are two equal-sized pieces of fleece and a pair of scissors.

Anyway, back to the dog bed. When we first got Ripley, we bought her a dog bed. That's her sleeping in it the first day we got her. Isn't she so adorably cute and tiny?! Look at her tiny little nose and feet! Ok, back to the bed again. She didn't really see it as a bed, instead it was more like an oversized chew toy for her own personal entertainment. She was also very particular about the placement of this "chew toy." The base of the bed had to be exactly halfway up the stairs and the pillow could only be in either the kitchen or the office, next to a doorway. Steve called it "Ripley's feng shui'ing." Needless to say, that bed does not exist anymore. Well, it does, but but not as a bed. More like lots of tiny pieces of red fleece and hollow-fiber filling. And even if it did still exist, she's a bit too big for it now anyway.

Maybe she was trying to tell us something.

So one day I was browsing sewing patterns on the web and amusing myself at the silly costumes that people make for their pets (particularly pugs) and I came across a no-sew dog bed which used to same concept as the baby blanket I mentioned above. The site I was on wanted something ridiculous like £9 for the pattern, which is stupid because you could look at the picture and figure out what they did so I decided to make it.

I had some extra fleece from a double-sided picnic blanket which I bought from Dunelm for the sole purpose of cutting up for little blankets for Chaz, but obviously a hedgehog doesn't need a massive amount of fabric so I got a couple of good-sized pieces for Ripley's bed, one bigger than the other, and a double-sized duvet folded up so it fits the dimensions of the fabric. I then had to cut bajillions of fringes on each side of the fleece. Let me tell you, if you don't have sharp scissors, this is THE MOST ANNOYING THING EVER!!! Then you just tie a bunch of knots, throw the dog bed on the floor and let doggie enjoy. Here is Ripley enjoying her new doggie bed. Hopefully, this one won't be torn to bits like the last one.

I heart Butternut Squash...

2010-04-25T19:24:00.002+01:00

So last week I went on a massive butternut squash kick. I have no idea why. I think it's because I suddenly remembered that I once had these amazing butternut squash enchiladas and I wanted to make some and then while looking for recipes I came across another really fantastic recipe with butternut squash so I made that too and during the entire process, I rediscovered how much I absolutely love it and how incredibly versatile it is and how many different things you can use it for. I also discovered that my dog goes nuts for it! She really, really likes it! Which is a little strange. Ok, a lot strange.

So the first thing I made was a butternut squash, spinach and feta quiche, adapted from this recipe. Let me tell you, it was sooooo good! And it looked stunning. I know it's kind of weird, but I think food tastes better when it looks good. Seriously, would tiramisu or a nice fat burger taste as yummy if it came in the form of sludge, like oatmeal? [An aside on oatmeal: I think it smells amazing, but I just cannot eat it, because it looks so gross!!]

Anyway, this was super tasty and I got to eat it again for lunch at work the next day because I had way extra so I was happy =]

Seeing as how the original reason for the butternut squash was to make enchiladas, Steve and I invited our good friends over to have them last Sunday. One is a vegetarian and the other is from California so they both appreciated the vegetarian, Mexican food. Plus, it was sunny and hot and we had beer so we got to spend all day in the sun. It was lovely.

Ok, back to the food. The enchiladas were fantastic. Better than I could imagine. Next time I make them though, I'll use more squash and stuff the tortillas more. I used a combo of a few different recipes. I probably should have written down what I put in them because I can't really remember, except that it included cream cheese and fried onions and garlic. Crap. I really should have written it down because I'd like to make these again. The only problem is that the only enchilada sauce I could find here looked like ketchup. It tasted ok though. Not as good as the stuff back home, but I didn't really have a choice. Here you can see Steve's sock money enjoying his own plate of enchiladas, and yes, he has a penis.

One thing I've really been missing here is canned pumpkin. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, canned pumpkin is used to make pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread and lots of other yummy treats. I know it seems a bit strange, but these are super tasty. They're sweet, not savory. Anyway, it's near impossible to find canned pumpkin here without having to order it online from one of those overpriced American food shops which charge ludicrous prices for food and shipping. I've heard rumors of cans of pumpkin lurking at Waitrose, but I've yet to see them. Anyway, butternut squash tastes very similar to pumpkin and is much easier to come by so I'm toying with the idea of trying to make pumpkin bread but with butternut squash. We'll see. I'll let you know. I might be lazy and just give up though.

Baking...

2010-04-03T10:36:00.000+01:00

For those of you who don't know me, I have an unusually varied list of interests. For example, I really like sports cars and motorcycles. My car back in California was a 2007 Subaru WRX named Wroxanne. Get it? Roxanne, with a W? Because it's a WRX... oh nevermind. I also really love power tools and building things and my dream job is to flip houses (buy up old houses, remodel them and sell them off), much to the chagrin of my web designer husband who doesn't like to work with his hands at all. On the other hand, I can be really girly. I knit and crochet and sew. I also really, really enjoy science. My degree is in biochemistry and I absolutely love pharmacology and quantum physics, but I'm also very creative and really enjoy painting and drawing. I've always wanted to do other artsy things like make jewelry and design clothing.

I'm not a very "homey" person. I don't enjoy cleaning. I know few people do, but I don't even get those random moods where I just have to clean. That's not to say that I won't do it, and no, my house is not all gross and messy or anything. I have a husband who takes care of all that. Well, I help him sometimes.

And don't try to make me feel bad. I'm away from the house for 11 hours a day ok?

Back to my point. One place in the house where I shine is in the kitchen.

*pause for women in the kitchen jokes*

Ok, I absolutely love, love, LOVE to bake and cook and bake. My ideal house would have the kitchen right next to the bedroom so I could wake up and immediately start baking.

Kidding.

One of my favorite things is to bake for my colleagues at work. Not only does it give me a chance to try out new recipes, but it means I can bake whatever I want and not have it lying around the house for me to eat. And it makes my coworkers love me. I have been a bit of a slacker lately though on account of being really stressed at work and just wanted to do absolutely nothing on the weekends and not really having the extra cash to buy ingredients.

One of the struggles of baking for people at work is trying to find single-serving recipes. I've grown tired of just baking cookies. Cookies can be good, but I'm just tired of them. So I've decided, just a few minutes ago, yep, this morning, that I'm going to take it upon myself to find recipes which are not made for single servings and try to convert them. Fun huh? Maybe not for you, but for me? Yep. Party time.

So I'm probably going to put some of my single-serving exploits up here. If I remember. Stay tuned.

With this, I'll leave you with my absolute FAVORITE baking blog. Not only is this woman an absolute crack up but her recipes and photos will make you drool. I've made like 6 or 7 of the recipes from her blog and they are scrumptious. I highly recommend the chocolate cobbler... and the magic peanut butter middles... and the chocolate chip scones... or pretty much everything.

Lack of Convenience

2010-02-28T13:50:00.003Z

So I've been in this country for a year and 8 months and since then I've been building up a list of conveniences which I miss about the US. Don't get me wrong, there are loads of things which we have in the UK which aren't back home which I think are great like cream teas, decent public transport, exceptional, long history, amazing architecture, fantastic culture which changes every 20 miles, great pubs all over the place filled with interesting people. But none of this (except for the public transport) really helps me out day-to-day.

Let me begin my rant of missing conveniences with something small, actually everything small. Everything in the UK is small. The houses are small, bedrooms are small, food and toiletry packages and are small (so you have to buy twice as much of everything to last you just as long), the cars are small, which is good because the parking spaces are small. The shops are small. Everything is small. Which goes onto the fact that there's just no space. My house is a normal 2 bedroom, terraced house which is a very common residence for a couple of Steve's a my age to live in... in the UK. In the US, this house would be considered teeny tiny. The ceilings are lower, and rooms are smaller, the garden is smaller, the kitchen is half the size it should be and melds with the dining room. Our couch barely fits into our living room and it's a small couch. I feel claustrophobic sometimes.

Another small part of the houses in the garage. On the way to work last week I only saw one house on the 30 minute drive which had a 2 car garage. Nearly everyone here has one-car garages and I've never even heard of anyone here having an automatic garage door opener. Nor have I heard of a door going directly from the house to the garage. If I want to get something from my one-car garage, I have to go out my front door, walk past the neighbors house, usually through the rain, and open up my garage manually with a key. This isn't uncommon for a lot of people here.

Of course having a garage doesn't even really matter which brings me to the next convenience I miss: driving. I've been driving for 11 years. 11 years and I STILL have to start over from the beginning when it comes to getting my UK license. That means taking all 3 of the driving exams, 2 of which are actually a bit difficult, particularly the practical driving exam where they fail you for tiny little things like not turning your head enough to look at your mirrors. If I had come from mainland Europe, I'd just be able to switch my license out for a UK one with no problems, but noooooooo. It's annoying.

Some other quick things I really miss:
-Dishwashers: they're becoming more and more common here, but with the size of my kitchen, where the heck am I going to put it?! Newer houses have them, but if your place wasn't built in the last couple of years then it's not built in and you have to buy your own which is portable??
-Central heating/AC: Central heating over here comes in the form of radiators in each room which have boiling water running through them and are usually connected to the hot water heater somehow. Usually this is a good thing because it uses gas rather than electric and uses the hot water from the boiler (I think?) but if you touch one you burn your hand off! And you can't put furniture in front of them because the furniture blocks the heat and it's a hazard. So basically because the rooms are so small and the radiator is so big and you can't put furniture in front of them, they basically take out an entire wall of usable space. Plus there's no AC, but I guess it's not like you really need it because it only gets hot for like a couple weeks in the summer here anyway.
- Dryers: The good thing about central heating is that it's useful because there's no space for a dryer, so you hang your wet clothes from the washer over the radiators or on a clothes horse to dry when it's raining outside. But I really miss having a dryer because the clothes came out hot and fluffy and wrinkle-free and wonderful. But there's just no place to put it and the garage is too far away and has no electricity.
-Mixer taps in the bathroom: one hot tap and one cold tap. The hot tap is scalding and the cold tap is freezing. How the heck do you wash your hands with warm water? There's two different temperatures coming from two different taps! It's not even like they're coming from one tap. The only way to get warm water is to pug up the sink and fill it up with a mix of scalding hot and freezing cold water and wash your hands in the pool of water. It seems like it'd even be more work to plumb two different taps.

Anyway, I really miss things being easy and convenient. I miss things happening quickly and effortlessly. I do love living here and if I were given the chance to move back right now, I probably wouldn't. But it would be nice to have a few of these things just to help out a little bit.

Hard Times...

2010-01-17T11:24:00.002Z

The last 4 weeks have been pretty tough on me. Work has been really busy and stressful but the biggest problem is a personal issue which I'm not going to divulge. Don't worry, things with Steve are still amazing so it's not that.

I've been doing my very best to put on a happy face and get through each day, but yesterday evening everything sort of crashed down on me and I had a little bit of a bad moment. I think I needed it though because now I'm able to start processing things and getting over them rather than just pushing them away and ignoring them.

Last night, during my moment, I also received a reminder of how fortunate I am. I'm so thankful that I have someone so amazing in my life who is understanding, comforting and always willing to listen and be whatever I need him to be whenever I need it whether it's just a listener or an advisor or comforter or all at once. He's great and I'm so lucky to have him. Love you Roo =]

The last 2 weeks...

2010-01-03T17:58:00.002Z

So, I took a trip back home and it was really fun, the end.

Juuuuust kidding!! So here's a bit about my trip...

Several things ALWAYS happen to me whenever I fly. They're really annoying things too. I always get a seat over a wing so I can't ever glance out a nearby window and look down to see the ground view. I always get stuck next to someone who refuses to get into a conversation with me no matter how hard I try. I always have a very difficult time sleeping and end up hating everyone else around me who can sleep because I'm just so jealous. Th most I'll sleep is maybe an hour on a 10 hour flight. My bag is always one of the last ones to come out onto the baggage carousel. These things seriously never fail to occur.

So The layover in Boston was kinda nuts. There was soooooooo much snow!! I'm amazed that the plane was able to land so smoothly, even land at all! I had to change terminals so I had to go outside and catch a bus to the domestic terminal and there was like feet of snow and loads more coming down. It was great. So I got to LA and saw my folks for the first time in over a year. It was great.

The next day we went to Disneyland. (I slept through the whole night!) And it was great! It was sooooo warm! I was traipsing around in a tshirt and everyone else was in coats and sweaters and still cold. Loved it. I miss Disneyland. Such a great place and I really think you can enjoy it more as an adult. I got to have a churro (yum!) and we had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe where I had a margarita with Patron tequila (double yum!).

The next two days I spent in SLO (San Luis Obispo for those of you who don't know). It was sooooo nice to be back! I went into the Apple Store and there were soooooo many people that I didn't know. I think probably like 5 people were working who did know me. I got to have amazing food which I've missed tons: Thai Classic, steak from Tahoe Joe's, a burger from Sylvester's, Doughboy's Pizza. I got to spend lots of time with Adam and Crystal - two of my SLO faves - take advantage of pre-Christmas sales, see the Pacific, people-watch at the downtown Starbuck's. It was lovely. Ah SLO, you are amazing.

Adam came back to Fresno with me for Christmas Eve and Day which was actually the most mellow part of the trip and pretty fun. Not much to say about this because well, it was prettymuch a typical Christmas and probably just like the one you had.

Christmas Day, Adam headed back to SLO and my parents and I headed up to Sacramento to see my grandparents. I haven't seen them since I moved to the UK so it was good to visit. I got to chat with my older cousins for a couple hours which was pretty cool now that they're getting older. They're much more relatable now and it's nice that we can just hang out and have an adult chat.

Off to San Francisco the next day. Oh I loooooove the city!!! We stayed at a hotel like a block away from Union Square so we were right in the middle. It was great! Got more shopping done and got to see our oldest family friends which was absolutely fantastic. I've known this family since I was like 4. We got to spend almost the whole day with them. It was really great until it started raining and I was the only one with an umbrella. Of course living in the UK will make you carry one with you every day! Everyone else was soaked and as for me, just a bit soggy at the bottom of my jeans =]

We had dinner at this Irish pub place which was pretty good except they had "mushy peas" which were made out of normal garden peas, not the big fat peas which they're supposed to be made out of so they looked all funny and tasted weird. I felt kind of bad because I'd hyped them up when my dad ordered the fish and chips (which the peas came with) and then they came and I was really disappointed. They did have curry chips though which my parents liked (but they weren't near as good as the ones here).

The following day we took a quick trip down to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, ate lunch at Boudin's Bakery (mmmmm, sourdough bread) and then headed back to pack up and have a quick nap before heading to the airport. My last meal in the US had to be Taco Bell (I ate 2 burritos and a taco!) and the rest is history!

I was going to talk about New Years and going back to work and the snow and stuff but I'll save that for later. For now, I'll leave you with a picture of the best burger on earth!! The Hana from Sylvester's. Mmmmm.

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-19T16:37:00.005Z

Oh my goodness, it's been so long! Lots has happened since I've last posted on here. Lets see, where to begin. I healed up from my laparoscopy very nicely. There is barely a scar to show for it. We didn't get to have a Thanksgiving celebration which was pretty lame, and made for a very homesick Thanksgiving week for me, but I did come into work with some very nice Thanksgiving photos on my desk.

We also had the work Christmas party which was really fun. Especially since we got to get all nice and dressed up. In the picture is my boss, John and colleague, Emma. The 3 of us do the marketing for the entire company, globally. And we kick ass at it too. During the day we did a multi-activity thing with quads, trap-shooting, hovercrafts and dune buggies and in the evening we had a black-tie party with a meal and a band and lots of alcohol. Very, very fun.

The other exciting happening around here is the new addition to the household, Ripley the puppy. After much deliberation, Steve and I decided to get her. She's gorgeous, and really sweet. Now, 10 weeks old, border collie, springer spaniel mix. She's an absolute riot. Incredibly intelligent too. She's doing an amazing job with housetraining already, and she can sit and does really well on the lead, even though she only can go in the garden because she's not finished with her vaccines. She's sleeping all through the night now though she tends to take up all of Steve's side of the bed. She's also gotten into the habit of chewing on my shoes so we've had to congregate them in the front entryway. All in all, she's been a very nice addition to the household.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm off to California for a week which I'm very much looking forward to, though I'll definitely miss spending Christmas with Steve and Ripley. I'm still very excited to see my friends and parents and have Mexican food and tritip and Sylvester's and Firestone Beer and be somewhere warm. I'll be back for New Years though. Yay! Fireworks!!

Well, Hello There...

2009-10-31T08:26:00.002Z

Hi guys!! I know it's been a while since I've written and I apologize for that. As you know I've been working in Bristol so the weeks have been quite busy. That's not to say they've been bad as I still absolutely love my job. Anyway, I just wanted to update everyone on a couple things.

First, I finally got word about my laparoscopy and it's scheduled for this Wednesday! Eek! I had my pre-op appointment last week where they told me al the dos and don'ts like making sure I have someone to stay with me for 24 hours after and taking all my nail polish off my fingers and toes (why, I have no idea - they're not going anywhere near my hands or feet and what difference would nail polish even make?! If you know the answer please tell me because I'm very curious). I was also told that even though I'm not supposed to wear jewelry I'm ok with the implants on the back of my neck, they'll take over them to protect them (another curious thing - why does something on the back of my neck need protecting?) Anyway, I'm glad that it's being taken care of finally so I'll know what the heck is going on with me. I'm NOT glad that I have to take 2 days off work. It makes me very nervous as I'm usually quite busy at work and things are always popping up that I need to take care of so I'm not looking forward to what Friday is going to look like. I'm just hoping that no one will try and take care of something in my absence and mess anything up. The thought terrifies me.

Secondly, I am sooooo excited about Thanksgiving!!!! I've invited several people from work and Maddie will be there and Steve's invited his brother and Lana. So we'll have a really good younger crowd and enough people for me to justify doing an entire turkey! I'm very very very much looking forward to it. So I've figured out my menu and I feel like I'm leaving something out so I'm going to write it all out here and I'll need your help to let me know if I'm missing anything ok? So here it is:

Appetizers:
Crudites
Tzatziki & hummus with flatbread (I know, not very Thanksgiving-ish, but it's tasty and I'm serving it anyway)

Main meal:
Salad
Wilted spinach with garlic, pine nuts and olive oil
Pasta salad
Green bean casserole
Candied yams (unfortunately these will have to be canned because I can't get fresh yams here =[ )
Mashed potatoes
Stuffing
Roast turkey
gravy on the side of course

Dessert:
Baked cheesecake
Pumpkin pie

Am I missing anything? What's your favorite Turkey Day dish?

Whoops!

2009-10-18T10:10:00.003+01:00

Ok, so it has literally been a month since I've last posted. I am so sorry you guys!! I blame work. I get up at 5am, am gone from the house for 12 hours, go to bed around 9:30 and then start all over again the next day. On the weekends, Maddie comes down and I don't really have a spare moment to say hello to everyone. So HELLO!!

Anyway, it's right in the middle of Autumn again and I'm getting kind of irritated that it's so effing cold suddenly! Like beginning-of-December cold. Not Mid-October cold. Hopefully this means that all of the horrible slugs that throw their bodies out under my feet on my walk to work will die sooner. Seriously, they're like little suicide bombers. They even pop when you step on them. Blech. There was one in my garden Friday night and I put some slug killer out for it and found it the next day dead but in the middle of the path! And I stepped on it! Even in death the little bitches like to get under your feet! So. Freaking. Gross.

Well, I just wanted to say a quick hello to everyone. I'm off now to get ready for Steve to come over for the day =] Have a wonderful Sunday all. Enjoy!

I know you missed me...

2009-09-17T20:16:00.002+01:00

Sorry guys, I know it's been a while since I've updated. Well, not that long I guess. It just feels like a long time. I've decided not to spend all night at the computer because I spend all day on the computer so I'll be brief but I wanted to just put a shorty out here.

First, the job is going wonderfully. I'm enjoying myself a lot with my work already and I haven't even fully stretched my wings yet. I'm really looking forward to when I'll be able to live out my full job description, whenever that will be. The atmosphere in my team is fantastic and I don't think an hour goes by when I don't have a good laugh about something with them. But really, we do get work done.

Another thing I love about the job is that it's right in the middle of Bristol city centre. I haven't spent a whole lot of time in Bristol, but when I have, I really love it and working there just reaffirms that I love that place. Everything is happening around you and everyone knows where they're going and you're surrounded by young, successful people rather than children pushing a stroller in one hand and a cigarette in the other, spitting on the ground saying everything is "lush." Ugh.

So it's mid-September now. September marks the beginning of my favorite trimester of the year. Obviously I like it because my birthday is in it (the 13th), but it's also when the leaves start to turn and the weather starts to get crisp. I LOVE Autumn. I love tromping on the leaves in the gutter (there are way more crunchy leaves here than there were back home!), I love the crisp, electric feel of the air. I love the build up to the holidays. October is just ok, but then we have November. Even though I'm in the UK, I did a Thanksgiving meal last year and I do plan on doing a small one this year, it'll be on the Saturday after though. Then the Christmas tree gets put up and there's Christmas shopping and Christmas music and the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes with everything having to do with Christmas (I started getting it over a month ago!). Even though I absolutely love the sun and heat and being warm and absolutely hate the cold and rain and bad weather, I cannot help but favor Autumn over any time of year for the reasons mentioned above. There's really nothing that beats it! And, if you really need warm weather, just head to the Med!

Speaking of heading to warmer weather, my cruise is in a couple weeks!! Yipee!!!

Ok, time to get off my bum and do something now. =]

He bit me!

2009-09-02T20:14:00.002+01:00

Chaz bit me tonight! Hard! He's never bit me before. In fact, he's only ever bit Steve once, because his fingers smelled like food and it was a tiny little nip, but this time he bit me hard enough to break the skin and make me bleed a little.

I'd just finished bathing him and had him on my lap while I was at the computer. He seemed kind of tense and was sniffing around like mad and he just chomped down on my hand! Right on the web between my thumb and index finger too! Ouch! Well, I put him on the desk so I could inspect my hand without him falling off my lap and I noticed he was dribbling a bit so I put him back in his cage and he went right to his litter box to wee! (Yes, he's litter trained.) So I think that he might have been trying to get my attention because he had to use the bathroom. I'm hoping so anyway. If this biting thing becomes a habit, I'm going to be pretty mad. I had just bathed him so my hands didn't smell like food or anything.

Oh well, I know hedgehogs get moody sometimes the same way people do. Maybe he's just having an off day.

Anyway, I'm off everyone, to nurse my wound. Ciao all.

The sun is out!!

2009-08-27T10:13:00.002+01:00

So today the sun is shining... and I'd already psyched myself up to be inside doing laundry and cleaning up all day. Sheesh. Luckily I'm meeting Jen in town for coffee later. I do need to get out of the house and out of my PJ's. I have 5 loads of laundry to do (the washers over here are very small) and I'll be lucky to get 3 of them done today. I've got a washer/dryer: one unit which washes and dries the clothes. For some reason though, it decides that it's ok to take an hour and a half to just do the wash cycle and that 3 and a half to four hours is perfectly normal for a dry cycle. So a single load of laundry can take up to six hours sometimes! It's not just the washer/dryers either. Steve's mum's washer unit takes over 2 hours sometimes to wash a load of laundry. Two hours!!! Boy do I miss the days of a 22 minute wash cycle and a 45 minute dry. Clothes done in an hour and you don't have to iron every single little thing. Seriously, everything comes out wrinkled here, unless you hang it out on the line, but then you've got to wait for nice weather (come on, this is England, how often do we get that?) and unless the conditions are just right - sunny and breezy - you end up with crispy clothes. No one likes to put on a pair of crunchy jeans. Not that it matters anyway; there's no line in my garden, and there's not really an easy way to hang one either.

Anyway, I thought I'd just throw up a quick rant for everyone. I'm not quite sure how often I'll be posting on here. Life has been bashing me up a bit lately. I'll try to send you some little quirks every once in a while. For now, check out this site for some really gross/weird/nauseating food concoctions.

Long time, no see

2009-08-22T13:55:00.004+01:00

Sorry guys. I know it's been a while. Things have been a little crazy since I last saw you. Let's see, what have I been up to? I had my first proper night out in Bristol with a girlfriend. I went to Bristol all by myself and visited the painting that I really want and also stopped at Cabot Circus which is the new-ish shopping centre in the middle of the city. [Edited to add Stephanie. Painting by JodyT]I had a trial shift at a bar which was absolutely fantastic and I've been offered more hours but not for a couple weeks. So I think I might have some hours as a bartender which is something that I've ALWAYS wanted to do. I really had a great time.

So anyway, I am suuuuuuuuper excited about the cruise my dad is taking me on in October!! We're scuba diving in Grand Cayman and Jamaica and going snorkeling off of a catamaran in Key West. The rest of the time we're just going to chillax on and off the boat. I can't wait!! Today I took the train to Taunton to look for a new bikini since mine are all too big for me and I found a super awesome one. It's right here in case you're interested. I know; it's adorable. I'll be needing one that actually fits because we'll be diving without wetsuits and I'd rather not have my bathing suit fall off in the water thankyouverymuch. Actually, I'm kinda just excited to get to dive without a wetsuit, though I'm considering getting a rash guard just to keep my BCD from chafing on me.

In other news, apparently sleeping next to me is like a contact sport. I've left Steve with verbal bashings, scratches and possibly bruises over the last couple weeks. Of course, from my perspective I go to sleep in one position and wake up in the same place, as if I've been completely still and peaceful the entire night. I'm learning that that's not the case at all. Apparently, while my lids are closed there's flailing of limbs and a cacophony of sounds all coming from me. Needless to say he hasn't been sleeping well. It's kind of weird. I wonder if I'm being possessed at night.

Anyway dears, I'm off for the eve. Have a good one

JodyT rocks my world!!

2009-08-15T13:03:00.004+01:00

So last night we took the train into Bristol to to go the gallery opening of an incredibly talented Bristol artist. Jody started off doing graffiti in the 80's. Now he does gorgeous aerosol portraits. Seriously Jody's work is absolutely amazing. I've never seen a piece I didn't like. The pieces in this show in particular are thrilling and seductive, but haunting and unbelievable. So beautiful. If you are in or around the Bristol area, I highly recommend that you go by the Weapon of Choice Gallery on St. Michael's Hill in Bristol. You can even stop by Zero Degrees just down the road between 4 and 7 pm and get £2 pints! And they have American-style pale ale!! It was fantastic! If you're not near Bristol, you'll have to settle for checking out Jody's website.

One piece in particular, called Stephanie, I absolutely fell in love with. Unfortunately, she's £550. So I'm collecting money for my birthday so that I can get her. So *hint, hint* my birthday is in less than a month. If anyone wants to contribute to the Stephanie cause, send me money. I'll let you come visit her all you want.

If you'd like to see some of Jody's work, his website is here. Check it out, his work is truly incredible. Oh yeah, and send me your money so I can get my painting ;-]

You'll have to wait for me, California...

2009-08-11T18:46:00.006+01:00

So I'm having to postpone my trip to California. I know this is very sad for everyone. Don't worry! I'm still coming out! It'll just be closer to October, not August. Sorry guys. I'm not sure of the dates yet so I have just removed the countdown timer and will repost it when I know for sure when I'm coming.

I know all you Californians are broken-hearted that you will have to wait longer to see me but I promise I have good reasons. First of all, my dad has invited me to go on a Caribbean cruise October 4-10. He'd originally booked it for himself and my mom, but now that she's starting a new job, she can't go. So I get to go. If I fly to the States in 2 weeks then back to the UK in Sept, I'd have to fly back to Miami in October for the cruise and that's like nearly £450. I could just stay out in California for the whole 7 weeks, but that's sooooo long to stay out there with no car and I don't think Steve would appreciate me being gone for that long anyway. The other reason is that I have a health issue which needs to be taken care of asap. I've got a doctor appointment the Friday before I'm scheduled to leave and I'm probably going to need to go back for more tests and stuff after that which I'd like to get over with as soon as possible. It's just easier to get it all done before I go. Also, it'd be nice to have the extra time here to figure out job stuff and get that all settled. I'm more than a little bummed that it's being postponed (though the cruise is definitely making the deal sweeter, thanks Dad!) especially since today is the last sunny day for the next week at least. It's supposed to just rain and rain and rain for the foreseeable future. Lame =[

In other news, Chaz has a vet appointment tomorrow. Just a little checkup. Hopefully anyway. He's been quilling and he's nearly done now and still grumpy as ever so I'm wondering if he might have gotten mites somehow, maybe through the wood shavings we used to use or maybe from a fly that got into his cage or something. You never know. So I'm bringing him in to get him checked out, just in case. He's never been to the vet anyway so I thought it'd be good to take him in and have him looked at. He's so getting another bath tonight too because he's so dang cute in it. Hopefully we'll get video this time. I'll totally post it. Speaking of cute, how hilarious is this picture of him on his back? He can't get out of this position and his face gets all fat and it just cracks me up. His arms and legs wiggle and he looks like he's kinda trying to swim out of it. It's so cute. Maybe I'll get video of that too.

Anyway, it's about time to bathe the hedgie so I'm off. Ciao all.

Clean Chaz

2009-08-08T09:19:00.002+01:00

So yesterday we gave Chaz a bath. I love bathing him. Not because he smells better after - he doesn't - but because he is hilarious in the bath. I'll pop him in the sink with about an inch and a half of warm water and a little bit of baby oil (it soothes his skin) and after sitting there for a few seconds figuring out where he's at, he starts to panic because he HATES baths. He starts this really cute thing where he tries to climb up my arms or the walls of the sink and the look on his face is priceless. Then, when he's done, I pull him out and set him in a towel in Steve's waiting arms so he can be dried off while I'm cleaning out the sink, but Chaz just tries to get out of the towel and towards me. That's the funny part. I'm the one that put him in the bath. I'm the one that tortured him by pouring water over his quills and rubbing water into his belly and wouldn't let him crawl up my arms out of the water, yet I'm also the one who pulled him out of the water. Steve always tried to keep Chaz wrapped up in the towel so he doesn't get cold as he's drying but if he knows I'm around he'll just want to be with me so Steve usually just gives up and hands Chaz to me in the towel and cleans up the sink himself while Chaz cuddles up to my chest and tried to forget the horrible experience I just put him through. Next time we'll have video.

This is a short one. I know you've all probably seen this picture of Chaz before, but it' just so dang cute so I'm going to leave you with it again =]

English Sushi

2009-08-01T11:02:00.006+01:00

Steve and I went out on a date last night. It was our first date in forever. Probably the first one we've had in over a year and a half. Very much overdue. We chose this ridiculously expensive Japanese restaurant because it's also been way too long since we've had sushi. The photo to the left is the label of the incredible bottle of wine we had with our dinner. I know it seems strange to have French wine with Japanese food, but it worked. I also know it's strange for me to actually enjoy a bottle of French wine, but I did. Oh boy did I. Because we don't get really good French wine in California (and even if we did, who cares! We have amazing California wine to drink, so there's no reason to drink some stinky French wine) I'm not very well-versed on reading the labels of them. So I took a photo in hopes that someone will tell me which information is important for me to know in order to find more of this so I can buy it. This wine was really amazing. Upon finishing this bottle we asked for another, but we'd gotten the last bottle! So we were wavering between a Rioja or a South African Bordeaux blend. The Rioja was the safe choice so we went with the SA wine which, unfortunately, was the wrong decision. We ended up giving half the bottle to a bunch of younguns at the table next to us because we couldn't stand it. Luckily, Steve knocked over my glass while we were thumb wresting so I didn't have to finish it.

After sushi we headed over to Bond's which, if you're just tuning in or can't remember from last week's episode, is our favorite place to drink at in town. I discovered that I drank mojitos when we were there last Friday and don't even remember it. I just have to reiterate how much I love that bar. The people who work there know us by name and every time we go there, we meet new people. Last night Steve disappeared for a while and had gone and chatted up a couple and also a table of ladies and I was sitting in the corner talking to an older couple for an hour or so. At one point some kid walked by outside and punched a window and broke the glass and a bunch of customers inside ran after him. They didn't have to. It wasn't their bar or their responsibility to go after him. In any other place they'd have just gone back to their drinks and conversations and whatnot, but these guys went after the kid, while the doorman just stood there. Anyway, it was a fun night. As always.

Sooo, if you're perceptive you'll see I put a little countdown to California. Most people know about this, but I'll announce it anyway: I'm coming out for a visit August 24-September 3. I'll be in SLO Aug 28-30. I'm sooooooooo excited!! just over 3 weeks and I'll be home! I can't wait!

I missed you!

2009-07-26T09:27:00.004+01:00

Hey guys! I hope you're all ok. As for me, I'm not too bad. It's been a nice relaxing weekend. I'm not sure if I've mentioned the night 3 weeks ago where Steve and I went out and got trashed with a friend of ours, but Friday night we decided that we should have a replay of it. We were meeting a bunch of people from "work" (I put it in quotes because, well, we don't work there anymore) to catch up and stuff at 6pm at our favorite little bar in town.

We didn't leave until 2am, completely hammered of course, 3-5 pints, 3 long islands, 2 mimosas, and several vodka and cokes later. We also made a new friend: a massive guy named Rob who was totally scoping me out all night and when I finally mentioned something about it, Steve marched over to him, sat down right next to him and was talking to him for like 5 minutes (oddly enough, Steve kept scooting closer and closer to him the whole time so he ended up leaning on him), the whole time Mike and I were left with our jaws on the floor. I mean, this guy was like twice Steve's size! When they were done talking, they both come over and sit down with us and Steve introduces Rob to us and says that he's going to join us for drinks! We found out the next morning that Steve had actually threatened him when he first sat down and then said "No mate. I'm just kidding, you're huge, there's no way I'd even have a chance." Rob was actually a really cool guy. He was listening to really awesome music on his iPod shuffle and introduced me to a really amazing band and at one point we both had a headphone and were singing Don't Stop Believin' really, really loudly to music which only we could hear of course.

More hilarity ensued upon leaving when Steve took off down the street looking for me seconds after I said "Don't move. Wait here. I'm just going inside to get our stuff and I'll be right back." Of course he thought that meant "Let's go, I'm right behind you." Mike walked out of the bar with his drink and the owner Gareth (who is absolutely awesome and we love him to death) followed us down the street to get his glass back. We got a cab back home after getting some amazing chips (fries for you American-folk) from a fish and chip shop (at least they tasted really amazing; I'll have to try them sober sometime) and both Steve and Mike were telling the cab driver where to go, but they had no idea where we were! I was so mad and I kept telling them to be quiet and apologizing to the driver. By some stroke of luck we did manage to make it home where we scarfed down our food, which was the best food in the world for like 10 minutes and we all passed out.

Other than that the rest of the weekend has been relaxing. Yesterday we didn't really have a choice. None of us were feeling up to doing anything else. Mike had taken his motorcycle in on Friday and he wasn't feeling comfortable getting on it until the afternoon and I was so exhausted that I just put a blanket out in the garden and fell asleep for a bit. It felt sooo nice, and we actually had real sun!! Amazingly, Steve felt he best of all of us, which I guess is payback since last time we went out, Steve felt like crap and Mike and I felt fine.

Ok wow, this is getting to be a very log post. I've got to get going because Steve's parents are coming by for lunch today so I need to get ready and get to making the Chinese chicken salad. MMMmmmmmmmm. Sooooo yummy!!

I now leave you with a photo of Steve using my foot as a phone at Bond's Wine Bar. This was before the majority of the alcohol. So this isn't a drunken picture. It's just showing how strange we are normally.

No more food... for now

2009-07-21T11:31:00.003+01:00

Ok, this post will NOT be about food (dang except I remembered something I wanted to say about food). Well, I might say something at the end of this post about food. It's kind of strange considering that I really don't eat very much (typically once a day. It's not my fault; the meds I'm on have completely ruined my appetite) that I talk about food so much. Maybe since I don't eat much, I just make sure that what I do eat is enjoyable and tasty.

Ok, getting AWAY from food. The weather is crap right now!! Luckily it's supposed to start getting better starting Saturday. Thank goodness because I am so sick of rain. Steve and I have been toying with the idea of moving to Portland when we move back to the States and I don't know what we were thinking. I love the sun. I miss the sun. I miss 336 days a year without rain.

Today has been a rather nice day luckily. I did get the chance to go into town, have coffee with one friend and have lunch with another. I somehow managed to avoid getting a single drop of rain on me. The weather is supposed to improve after heavy showers on Friday, but we'll see. They're usually wrong.

Lately, I've been unspeakably homesick. I'm not sure why, but I have been aching for California for the last week or so. I really miss it. Everything about it. Just over a year and I'm majorly suffering here. I really hope it gets better because I don't see a solution which puts me back in California anytime soon. Plus I couldn't take Chaz with me there. That would just be too sad.

Back to food for a second. I have had the biggest craving to make a ginormous crockpot of chili and a giant loaf of cornbread and have a bunch of people over. MMmmmm chili and cornbread. If only I had a packet of Carroll Shelby's Chili Kit. Sooooo, Mom and Dad. Feel like sending over a tiny little care package anytime soon? =D I wonder if I can buy it online somewhere. Nope, doesn't look like it. Ok, Mom and Dad. It's up to you ;-] A chili party sounds fun actually.

Anyway, I'm off for now. I've got loads of things to get done today. Hope you're all well.

Churros!!!

2009-07-19T20:11:00.004+01:00

Oh. My. God. Steve and I made churros today. They were AMAZING!! And soooooooo easy! Seriously. I ate like 4 of them. Not like they're that big anyway, but they're just yummy. So I highly recommend making churros. They're much, much better than the ones you get at Disneyland or at any stand on the beach. Next time I make them I'm going to try the hot chocolate recipe too. Anyway, the reason I made them in the first place was because Steve's boss tried them in California and asked Steve to see if I'd make them so I looked up the recipe and saw how simple they were and there they are! I'm making Steve bring most of them to work tomorrow so I don't eat them all tomorrow while I'm home because the chances of that happening are very good.

In Chaz news, he has become such a MASSIVE slob!! Every morning when I walk into the office, I look at his cage and the fleece which lines his cage is balled up in the middle of the cage. The paper towel which lines his litter tray is balled up under the fleece and his food is chucked all over the place. His igloo is often moved from the corner of the cage and he might be in it or he might be somewhere in the midst of the fleece/paper towel/food mixture. I'm not sure what's going on with him, but I think I have a teenage hedgehog on my hands. He's also still quilling. We gave him another bath today and he still doesn't like them. Poor guy tries to climb up my arms to get out of the water. Oh well, they make his skin feel better, so he's going to keep getting them.

Anyway, I'm off to go watch a film. Have a good Sunday!

Pizza!!

2009-07-17T22:36:00.003+01:00

I just had great pizza. I've been really afraid to try pizza in this country because, well frankly I've been spoiled by Doughboy's Pizzeria in Arroyo Grande, which is owned by a friend of ours back home, and of course Round Table. They've got Domino's and Pizza Hut here, but, come on, that's just disgusting. There's an Italian place which does Italian pizzas but that's different than having a pizza delivered to your house.

Anyway, good pizza. The only thing which was missing was ranch dressing. Mmmmmmmm. They've got what they call "ranch" in some places here, and I don't know what it really is, but it is NOT ranch. If someone is feeling really nice, they can send me a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing. I will love you forever. And throw some Taco Bell sauce packets in the box too. Wow, if I weren't so full I'd kill for a Taco Bell burrito right now. Or a churro. Hmmm, I just found a recipe for churros. It looks pretty easy. I think I'm going to have to try this one... I'll let you know how it goes.

First Post in a New Place

2009-07-16T09:56:00.003+01:00

I feel funny here. It's not the same. Not that I'm not used to being in blogger. I have some old blogger blogs, but it's just not my old website. Oh well.

So I'm going to start this blog out right with some good news. Yesterday while looking for jobs, I checked the Apple Jobs site in desperation and found that they're opening another Apple Store in Bristol and they're hiring for all positions. OF COURSE I applied for my old position as Business Partner. How amazing would it be to work for Apple again?? Pretty freaking amazing. I emailed my old manager from back home and asked if I could use her as a reference and got the affirmative. I also sent off an email to the Regional Recruiter who interviewed me for Apple in California to have him put me in touch with the UK recruiter for this job. Colin the recruiter, and the manager of the massive San Francisco store loved me sooo much on my very first interview that they didn't even give me a second one! I was called back the following day and told I got the job. They didn't even interview anyone else for my position. Just me. I'm that awesome. I wouldn't need any training for this job and I've got the B2B experience in this country already from the job I've been working for the last few months. It'd be silly not to hire me for this position. I'm so hopeful yet I'm so afraid to hope because I've been so let down lately.

That's all. I had a meeting today at work as to what's going on and I'm too depressed to report it. I'm going to go lay down.